The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will on Monday, 25 March launch two Flag Ship Reports and validate the national consultations held on the Global Development Agenda Post 2015, dubbed "Our voices and aspirations for the world we want after 2015."

A release issued in Monrovia by the UNDP on March 21, 2013 said the launch of the 2013 Human Development Report and Liberia's 2012 MDG Report will take place at the Bella Cassa Hotel adjacent the Monrovia City Hall at 8:30 in the morning.

UNDP Country Director Dominic Sam, said there is good progress in some of the MDGs, even though Liberia's capacity to meet majority of the goals by the deadline is unlikely.
Mr. Sam however noted that efforts are underway to develop an MDG Acceleration Framework (MAF) to address MDG 5 on the reduction of Child Mortality.

Liberia is one of 14 countries that have recorded impressive Human Development Index (HDI) gains of more than 2% annually since 2000, according to the Global Human Development report released by UNDP.

The 2013 HDI under the theme "The Rise of the South: Human Development in a Diverse World" was launched on the 14th of March 2013 in Mexico City.

Read more at allAfrica

Next week, the High-level Panel on the post-2015 development agenda meets for the fourth time. Disappointed that David Cameron, one of the co-chairs, will not be attending this meeting, a coalition of the UK’s leading environment and development groups – Christian Aid, Greenpeace, RSPB, WWF and Green Alliance – has warned that the post-2015 framework won’t be fit for purpose if the environmental challenges faced by developing nations are ignored.

Climate change, natural disasters, ecosystem decline and biodiversity loss present huge risks to sustainable development and poverty eradication, especially for the world’s poorest who depend on the natural environment for their survival.

The groups have outlined four environmental resilience tests essential for the post-2015 framework to eradicate poverty and deliver long term sustainable development.[2] In Cameron’s absence, they call on Justine Greening to show decisive leadership on these issues in Bali, and for Cameron to make clear that he is still committed to securing a sustainable, long term development agenda for post-2015.

Read more at Christian Aid

People want the United Nations to address challenges such as environmental degradation, unemployment and violence, according to initial findings released today from a global multi-media survey aimed at bringing the concerns of regular people to policymakers as they shape the development agenda for after 2015, the deadline to reach the Millennium Development Goals.
The process includes participations from 60 UN agencies, funds and programmes, and involves almost 100 national consultations in Member States, thematic discussions, surveys and online survey ‘My World’ where people are asked, “What kind of World do you Want?”

Thousands of people have logged into the related website, WorldWeWant2015.org, which currently has more than 5,700 suggested priorities ranging from ‘financial inclusion’ to ‘an honest and responsive government’ and youth empowerment.

“We are reinventing the way decisions will be made at the global level,” said Olav Kjørven, Director of the Bureau for Development Policy at the UN Development Programme (UNDP). He is also a co-chair of a UN Task Team working on a future development agenda, referred to as “the post-2015 agenda.”

Read more at UN News Centre

On the invitation extended by the Government of Bangladesh, Neomal Perera, Deputy Minister of External Affairs visited Dhaka to attend “Global Leadership Meeting on Population Dynamics in the context of Post 2015 UN Development Goals” 12-13 March 2013.

Delegates from 82 countries and representatives from International Organizations, Civil Societies, Academics, Inter Governmental and Local Agencies attended two days conference which was jointly organized by the Government of Bangladesh and Switzerland.

While addressing the meeting Minister briefed how Sri Lanka transformed its development index dramatically under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the recent years going with sound policies. And he emphasized that the Post 2015 development agenda should also address social economic issues including those that are discussed in the conference, where the concerns of the developing countries should give due priority. Minister urged that we as developing countries do not recognize the culture of knowledge economy and not advanced in technological development. At the conclusion of his speech, he requested to place on record that when defining the post 2015 development agenda, make sure to address all issues that continue to affect the developing world including population dynamics.

Read more at Asian Tribune

The United Nations presented today the first findings from an unprecedented global conversation through which people from all over the world have been invited to help Member States shape the future development agenda that will build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) after their target date at the end of 2015.

The snapshot report of initial findings entitled “The Global Conversation Begins” was delivered to more than 100 representatives of Member States who will negotiate the future development agenda that is likely to build on the MDGs and sustainable development agenda from Rio+20.

“We are reinventing the way decisions will be made at the global level,” said Olav Kjorven, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of Bureau for Development Policy at UN Development Programme. “People want to have a say in determining what kind of world they are going to live in and we are providing that opportunity by using digital media as well as door-to-door interviewers.”

Read more at Island Business

Access to education and lifelong learning must be at the heart of the development agenda, global experts stressed at a United Nations-backed conference in Dakar, Senegal.
“Inequalities limit education and learning opportunities for the most disadvantaged and excluded children,” said the Deputy Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Geeta Rao Gupta, at the Global Consultation on Education in the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

“Girls, children with disabilities, children living in conflict zones, nomadic children and children forced to work to help their families make ends meet are among the key vulnerable groups,” she said. “We must place equity and inclusion front and centre in our post-2015 plans.”

Over 100 representatives from UN agencies, donors, academia and civil society organizations attended the two-day conference, which was co-organized by UNICEF and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and which wrapped up yesterday.

During the conference, participants mapped out ways to ensure all children, youth and adults – especially the most disadvantaged – are able to realize their right to learn.

Read more at UN News Centre 

Representatives of UN agencies and the governments of France and Costa Rica held a meeting this week to look for ways to include environmental sustainability in the global development agenda from 2015.

The meeting in San Jose is part of a comprehensive consultation, covering meetings in 100 countries and citizen participation through the Internet, to look at development proposals on environmental issues, food security, access to water and to reduce poverty.

The Administrator of United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Helen Clark, said in a press conference that “the world will not be able to sustain social and economic progress if the environment is destroyed.”

“It is essential now move from speech focused (to action) on the balance between growth, poverty and the environment, one that focuses forward in the three strands together,” said Clark.
Representatives from New Zealand explained that the “ecological crisis” is a constraint to development, but it also opens the opportunity “to make a leap forward.”

Read more at The Costa Rica News

The UK-based agency Progressio wants to see sustainability and stewardship of scarce natural resources placed at the heart of a future vision for development, when the High Level Panel (HLP) on the Post-2015 Development Agenda meet next week in Bali.

The HLP must recognise the impact that climate change and environmental degradation is already having on the ability of poor people to meet their basic needs and make bold recommendations about how environmental sustainability can be integral to every development goal, the NGO says.

Glenda Rodriguez, Progressio's Central America regional manager, wants world leaders to be, "More assertive in their messages and actions by demanding their fellow leaders and governments respect natural resources."

The agency says it remains disappointed that David Cameron will not be attending the HLP next week to fulfill his duties as a co-chair. However, Justine Greening, who is attending on his behalf, is in a uniquely powerful position to promote environmental sustainability as a global priority, reversing a trend which has seen environmental issues side-lined in the post 2015 discussions, it says.

Read more at Ekklesia

Ms Ruby Sandhu-Rojon, UN Resident Coordinator yesterday commended Ghana for tracking the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which has helped prioritise development interventions such as child mortality, maternal health and basic sanitation.

She said even though the country was making efforts to accelerate the achievement of MDG five targets, a number of additional challenges remained to be tackled.
Ms Sandhu-Rojon was speaking at the National consultative Meeting on Post 2015 Development Agenda in Accra.

The Stakeholders workshop organised by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) in collaboration with the UN System in Ghana, is to collate the views of participants on the development agenda for post 2015 and feeding it into the global UN report.

This report would be the basis for inter-governmental negotiations for the Post-2015 global development agenda.

Read more at Government of Ghana

When the General Assembly unanimously adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) back in 2000, water and sanitation were reduced to a subtext - never a stand-alone goal compared with poverty and hunger alleviation.
Now, as the United Nations begins the process of formulating a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for its post-2015 agenda, there is a campaign to underscore the importance of water and sanitation, so that the world body will get it right the second time around.

Ambassador Csaba Korosi of Hungary, whose government will host an international water summit in the capital of Budapest in October, says, "Sustainable development goals for water should be designed in order to avoid the looming global water crisis."

Speaking to reporters last week, Hungary's Permanent Representative to the United Nations said water resources have remained virtually unchanged for nearly 1,000 years.

"But the number of users have since increased by about 8,000 times," he said.

With global food production projected to increase 80 percent by 2030 - and with 70 percent of water consumption flowing into the agricultural sector - Korosi said 2.5 billion people will very soon live in areas of water scarcity.
Addressing the Special Thematic Session of the General Assembly on Water and Disasters last week, Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson was blunt: "We must address the global disgrace of thousands of people who die every day in silent emergencies caused by dirty water and poor sanitation."

The theme of the Budapest water summit, scheduled for early October, will be "The Role of Water and Sanitation in the Global Sustainable Development Agenda."

Read more at Independent European Daily Express

• Advancing the Business and Human Rights Agenda: Key to Reform Financial Sector
• The faltering dreams of Tunisian girls
• CIVICUS releases an open letter requesting the Indonesian Parliament to reject the proposed ORMAS law and create an enabling environment for civil society
• MDGs: The case for collective global action
• Experts provide input on HLPF
• Africa: WACSI Holds Policy Influence Conference
• European Union: Citizens’ initiatives flounder one year after launch
• World Bank Group: Access to land is critical for the poor
• Leveraging private finance with public money: Positive innovation? Corporate welfare?
• Citizen participation and accountability

 Read this issue online or subscribe to receive all future issues.

African Ministers, parliamentarians and policymakers met in Hammamet, Tunisia, to ensure that Africa plays a proactive role in shaping the future global development agenda.

In his keynote address to delegates, African Development Bank Vice-President for Operations Aly Abou-Sabaa said, "This is the time for Africa to set its targets for the post-2015 development agenda," adding: "It is critical that the voice of Africa is heard and accepted" in formulating the agenda.

The meeting was hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB), and co-organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the Africa Union Commission (AUC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The meeting was the third and final consultation on the post-2015 development agenda, following consultations in Mombasa, Kenya (October 1-2, 2012) and Dakar, Senegal (December 10-11, 2012).

Read more at AllAfrica

The year 2015 was set by the members of the United Nations in 2001 as the target for fulfilling the targets agreed to in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for eliminating extreme poverty. While many of the MDGs may not be achieved by the deadline, the world can take pride in the significant progress that has been made to date.

In particular, extreme poverty has been greatly reduced in many countries, including Indonesia. The focus has now turned to working out a new framework for global development, to continue advances while ensuring that gains already made are not undone.

Read more at The Jakarta Post

A conference on Vietnam's national consultations for the post-2015 development agenda was jointly held by the United Nations (UN) in Vietnam and the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment here on Wednesday, the state- run Vietnam News Agency reported.

Specifically, within the framework of the Post-2015 Development Roadmap of Vietnam, the UN Task Team for National Consultations, specialists and consultants focused on three main areas, namely the challenges and risks of climate change that an agricultural economy like Vietnam has to face up to, global economic integration, and the changes caused by the country's population shift.

Pratibha Mehta, UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, said that 2015 is the last year for the implementation and accomplishment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). After more than 10 years and considerable achievements, Vietnam is considered a leading country in implementing the goals thanks to its government's commitment and efforts.

Read more at ASEAN- China Centre

The Global Thematic Consultation on Conflict, Violence and Disaster in the Post-2015 Development Agenda has culminated with final, high-level meeting, which recognized that conflict, violence and disasters mutually reinforce each other, and recommended addressing them simultaneously within the post-2015 agenda.

The meeting took place in Helsinki, Finland, on 13 March 2013, and was organized by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO), the UN International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), with support from the Government of Finland.

Rebeca Grynspan, UNDP Associate Administrator, presented the Synthesis Report of the Conflict, Violence and Disaster Consultation, which includes the outcomes of regional consultations in Indonesia, Liberia and Panama between October 2013 and February 2013. She noted that participants had stressed the need for a multidimensional framework that explicitly calls for access to justice, inclusive institutions, economic opportunities, equity, the mainstreaming of human rights and women’s empowerment, and combating all forms of violence against women.

Read more at Institute for Sustainable Development

GWP Southern Africa has participated in national and international dialogues focusing on water in the post 2015 development agenda. The dialogues form part of the UN national dialogue (post Rio +20) process which will feed into the development of the UN post 2015 Sustainable Development Goal(s).

At the invitation of the Department of Water Affairs, South Africa, GWP Southern Africa Executive Secretary, Ms Ruth Beukman participated in the Post Rio+20 National Water Sector Workshop as a presenter on the topic “Thinking behind the post-2015 development agenda.” The workshop, which brought together about 60 participants from key water, environment and development institutions across the country, was held in Durban 19-20 February 2013. The workshop objectives included…

Read more at Global Water Partnership

A widely-acknowledged limitation of the Millennium Development Goals is a neglect of inequality – it is argued that the targets encouraged a focus on ‘low hanging fruit’, those people that were easiest to reach. In the run-up to 2015, a great deal of debate has highlighted this neglect and considered the many ways in which inequality might feature in a new global agreement.

At this meeting, which takes place shortly after the UN-facilitated Global Consultation on Addressing Inequalities and precedes a meeting of its Advisory Group, we invite panelists and discussants to give their own insights and suggest proposals. The presentations will address three aspects of this debate...

Read more at ODI

As debates about the post-2015 development framework rumble on, there appears to be considerable agreement that in education a refocusing from access to learning will be needed. But where are we on educational inequality?  How strongly is this now embedded in the broader post-2015 development debate?

Many organizations, including the EFA Global Monitoring Report team, are highlighting inequality as a critical education challenge, but on the whole it is not being taken seriously enough and there is in sufficient recognition of just how vital it will be. This is a major problem.

Read more at World Education Blog

On the 17 of March 2013, Commissioners at the 7th Meeting of the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development adopted a gender target on access to information and communication technologies (ICT). A new Task Group on the post 2015 agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to be led by Ericsson, was also launched by the Commission.

During its meeting in Mexico City from the 16/17th of March, the Commission set a target to ensure gender equality in broadband access by 2020, in light of the global gender gap affecting access to ICT’s, which stands at 25% globally, and rises to 45% in Sub Saharan Africa according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

For Helen Clark, UNDP administrator, a “lack of equal opportunity for women and girls to access [ICT] technologies risks thwarting development progress”. According to her, closing the gender gap in ICT access would help empower women and girls, helping to achieve inclusive, sustainable development. The ITU Secretary Gteneral, Hamadoun Touré added that “women’s access to ICTs and particularly broadband must be made a key pillar of the post-2015 global development agenda.”

Read more at Post2015.org- what comes after the MDGs?

The ongoing process to shape the post-2015 framework includes an interesting angle whereby citizens around the world are asked to rank their top priorities for what development goals will come after 2015. The My2015 first online and offline survey results have shown that ‘a good education’ is the top priority for a future development framework for Liberians, where the first survey took place, and a cross-section of the global population who voted online.

Almost in parallel, the g7+ countries, a group of 18 like-minded fragile states taking development decisions into their own hands—as well as donors supporting fragile states in the achievement of their goals—met  in Dili to discuss and adopt a common agenda on post-2015 for fragile states.

Read more at An Internal Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE)

Last month I joined a team of 13 VSO employees, partners and volunteers at the Asia Pacific Regional Thematic  Consultation on Education in the Post 2015 Development Agenda in Bangkok. The conference was organised by the  regional offices of UNESCO and UNICEF.  Its purpose was to ensure that the voices of the Asia-Pacific region are included in the global process.

VSO realised that many groups have been excluded in discussions on the post-2015 development framework which aims to prioritise the development needs of poor and marginalised people. We felt that views of excluded groups such as female teachers and pupils living in rural areas, parents, out-of-school children, ethnic minorities, and youth are not being adequately represented.

Read more at VSO talk

The vision of education in the post-2015 development agenda must reflect two fundamental principles, said UNESCO's Assistant Director-General, Qian Tang.

He spoke at the Global Consultation on Education in the Post-2015 Development Agenda which opened on 18 March 2013, in Dakar, Senegal.  

The first principle is that the right to quality education is a fundamental human right enshrined in normative frameworks and built into the legislation of most countries.  

The second is that education is a public good. The state must be the custodian of the principles of education as a public good, paying particular attention to the promotion of equality.  

Mr Tang also underlined that while governments must be in the driving seat, we also need to recognize that the delivery of education is a collective responsibility that involves families, communities, civil society organizations and business."We need to do a better job of harnessing all of these stakeholders to improve the delivery and financing of education," he said.  

Read more at UNESCO

A new international alliance of research institutes has identified eight major shifts that must take place for humanity to achieve sustainable development.

The recommendations come in a paper published today by the Independent Research Forum on a Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda, whose members include IIED and other think tanks in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, North America and South America.

The research institutes joined forces to provide expert analysis to inform the on-going international policy processes that will shape both the Sustainable Development Goals (which nations agreed to create at the Rio+20 Summit last year) and the ‘post-2015’ development agenda, which is set to replace the Millennium Development Goals.

Read more at Eco- Business.com

A group of 90 academics, economists and development experts have written to the members of the High Level Panel on the Post 2015 Development Agenda to ask that they put tackling inequality at the heart of any new framework.

Ahead of the next meeting of the panel in Bali next week, the letter says that to eradicate extreme poverty in all its dimensions by 2030, the panel must find a way to reduce vast and increasing inequalities both within and between countries.

The expert signatories include former Colombian minister and leading development economist Jose Antonio Ocampo, Indian academic Jayati Ghosh, Thomas Pogge, a lead thinker in global justice debates and co-authors of the Spirit Level book, Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson.

The letter was also signed by Cambridge University’s Gabriel Palma and Andy Sumner from the International Development Institute at King’s College London who have put forward an alternative measure of inequality based on Palma’s ratio between the  income share of the richest 10% of a population compared with the poorest 40%.

Read more at Post2015.org- what comes after the MDGs?

The new development agenda to follow on from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which expire in 2015, should focus on how countries can achieve growth that includes everyone, going beyond poverty eradication and international aid, according to an early snapshot of consultations with people around the world.

The United Nations launched what it calls a "global conversation" in August last year, and more than 200,000 people from across the world have contributed to a process that will run until May or June.

The United Nations Development Group released on Thursday an initial set of findings, which it hopes will inform a meeting of the U.N. secretary-general's high-level panel on the post-2015 development agenda in Bali starting on Sunday.

The report says people still regard the MDGs as "fundamental", not least because they help "channel support to people living in vulnerable situations across the world". But they also see room for improvement.

Read more at AlterNet

The United Nations' Organisation (UNO) has nominated Ghana to play a lead role among 30 member-states from five regional blocks, to develop Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will be universally applicable, through the Open Working Group (OWG) initiative.

The Rio+20 Conference agreed to launch a process to develop a set of SDGs, which will build upon the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to converge with the post 2015 development agenda.

It was decided that an "inclusive and transparent intergovernmental process open to all stakeholders, with a view to developing global sustainable development goals to be agreed by the General Assembly," which Ghana is now playing a lead role among the 30 member-states representatives, would be established.

Mr. Ken Kanda, Ghana’s Ambassador Plenipotentiary to the UNO, noted that Ghana considers the role as a duty to humanity and the UNO to develop goals to enhance the assets of the poor and address current global crises.

Read more at GhanaWeb

UN Women Deputy Executive Director John Hendra participated in a panel on the “Key gender equality issues to be reflected in the post-2015 development framework” on 7 March during the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW57). The objective of the panel was to solicit the views of CSW Member States and civil society on key issues in the post-2015 agenda.

Mr. Hendra outlined UN Women’s perspective on what a post-2015 agenda that has gender equality and women’s empowerment at its heart might look like. He described the need for the inclusion of a substantive stand-alone gender equality goal that is firmly grounded in women’s rights, based on existing human rights norms and standards, including CEDAW. This goal must be comprehensive, avoid repeating the narrow focus of Millennium Development Goal 3 (MDG3), and include the specific gender issues that other goals and targets do not address, such as aim to eliminate violence against women and girls, expand women’s choices and opportunities, ensure their full participation in decision-making at all levels, and include sex-disaggregated targets and indicators.

Read more at reliefweb

Emele Duituturaga (far right), Executive Director at Pacific Islands Association of Non Governmental Organisations in Fiji, sits in a plenary session with other CSO leaders at the 2nd Global Assembly of the Open Forum in Cambodia in 2011. A development specialist, academic, consultant and trainer, Emele has exceptional knowledge of gender and development issues in the Pacific region, having served in senior roles including CEO of the Fiji Ministry for Women, Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation and Head of the Pacific Women's Resource Bureau for the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Here, Emele speaks with CIVICUS about development effectiveness in Civil Society.

You played an important role in the Open Forum for CSO Development Effectiveness. What are, for you, the key results of this process?
The key results are the collective and unified voice of Civil Society created as a result of a very focused and well-organised global bottom-up process of consultations in over 70 different countries and reaching global consensus on the Istanbul Principles and the International Framework for CSO Development Effectiveness which we tabled at the Busan HLF4 and got global recognition for. This is truly remarkable.

What do the Istanbul Principles bring to the CSO sector, on top of existing accountability and self-regulating tools?
The Istanbul Principles bring a unifying mission and global consensus of what CSOs value and work for: a mission and consensus which other stakeholders – particularly governments and donors – have now embraced.

• From subjects to citizens – accountability in the post-2015 development agenda
• Aspiring to greatness – little by little
• Civil society and its environment – Driving sustainable development?
• Civil Society communiqué: The Global CSO Forum on the Post-2015 Development Agenda
• Bali Youth Multi-stakeholder Meeting on Post 2015 releases a communiqué
• A red flag for the Post-2015 High Level Panel
• Eradicating poverty through environmentally resilient development: the way forward Post-2015
• Africa: African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) finds Zimbabwe guilty of torture
• Honduras: Women raise banner of women’s rights in Honduran popular movement
• Nepal: Civil society, peace process, Marx and Hegelian theory
• Stop the suffering in Syria
• Do One Thing for Diversity and Inclusion
• Planning, Programming and Monitoring Projects: A five-day course
• Transparency International: Group Director, Resource Development and External Relations (Apply by 16 April 2013)

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On Monday 8 April 2013, the CIVICUS Board of Directors invites members of the CIVICUS alliance to join and interact with them in an open online meeting.

The CIVICUS Board of Directors will be holding their next regular meeting in New York on 7 and 8 April 2013, and are eager to take the opportunity of being together in one place to reach out to members and strengthen the connectivity and sharing of ideas between the organisation’s membership and Board.

Since the last CIVICUS members Annual General Meeting in September 2012 in Montreal, there have been some key developments in the organisational governance:

• Finalisation and launch of CIVICUS’ new 2013-2017 strategy
• Appointment of Danny Sriskandarajah as the new CIVICUS Secretary General
• Elections for a new Board of Directors, due to take place in the second half of 2013

Although this virtual meeting does not constitute a formal AGM, it will be an interactive chance for the CIVICUS membership and broader constituency to interact with the current Board, who have served since 2010. After a short report back from the Board Chair, the format of the meeting will be an interactive question, answer and consultation session.

If you would like to take part in the meeting from the comfort of your computer, please RSVP to Carol Baloyi, Membership Officer (E. ; T. +27 11 833 5959 ext. 109) no later than Friday 5 April 2013. Carol will send you the instructions on how to connect to the virtual meeting.

The meeting will take place at 12:00 – 13:30 New York time / 16:00 – 17:30 GMT. To check your local time equivalent, please click here.

Although this is a meeting primarily for CIVICUS members, others are welcome to join the meeting with observer status.

Join CIVICUS or renew your membership here.

10:00-12:00 am, Tuesday 9 April 2013, at the United Nations, New York
Conference Room 4, North Lawn Building

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations warmly invite you to attend the presentation of findings from the forthcoming 2013 State of Civil Society Report, followed by a panel discussion on the links between an enabling environment for civil society and the successful implementation and integration of key global development agendas.

The annual CIVICUS State of Civil Society Report assesses the health of citizen participation and civil society around the world. This year’s report, to be published in late April 2013, draws on fresh data and research to explore the different components of the environment within which civil society and citizen action during 2012 took place.

The subsequent panel discussion comes at a critical time for global negotiations on the post-2015 development framework, the post-Rio+20 Sustainable Development Goals and the follow-up to the 2011 Busan 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, and will explore and sharpen the contribution to sustainable development of an enabling environment for civil society.

The event will also be an opportunity to meet and mingle with the CIVICUS Board of Directors, who will be meeting in New York ahead of this event.

If you would like to attend this event, please RSVP to Mark Nowottny ( / T. +44 7415 217002) or Sunda May ( / T. +1 212 906 6709) no later than Thursday 4 April 2013. You can view the full programme here.

For those of you not able to attend in person, please be advised that the event will be webcast on the UN Web TV: http://webtv.un.org/.

We look forward to seeing you at this discussion.

Education experts gathered in the Senegalese capital Dakar this week to discuss what priorities should look like once the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) expire in 2015. The conclusion: more focus on quality and how to measure it; on equity and access for hard-to-reach children; and on what should happen during the first three years of secondary school. “We need a goal that encompasses our broad aim of quality education, equitably delivered, for all children,” said Caroline Pearce, head of policy at the Global Campaign for Education (GCE).

The meeting was one of 11 global consultations on the post-2015 development agenda. Millennium Development Goal 2 - to achieve universal primary education - succeeded in pushing up enrolment rates: in 2010 some 90 percent of children were enrolled in primary school, up from 82 percent in 1999, according to the UN. But the goal was narrow and even more narrowly interpreted: it focused only on access to primary education, and implementers tended to judge success by enrolment rates rather than completion rates.

Read more at IRIN

The Global Consultation on Population Dynamics in the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda recently published its final outcome document: “A Call to Integrate Population Dynamics into the Post-2015 Development Agenda” after its Dhaka meeting in Bangladesh from the 11-12th of March 2013. [Please note: while the titles on the consultation website have not been updated, this is the final document].

It considers population to be a cross-cutting issue, calling for any emerging development framework, goals and targets to be informed by population projections. It will  inform the report of the UN High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (HLP) and the UN Secretary-General’s report to the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
It makes recommendations in relation to health, labour, education and urban planning. It also calls for: capacity building regarding the ability to collect and analyse demographic data; universal  health care including sexual and reproductive health; and encourages the provision of health and reproductive education. It also argues for the elimination of child marriage, and addresses migration, youth and ageing issues.

The outcome document was formulated after a series of consultations, the most recent having invited participants to comment on a draft of the outcome document.

Read more at Post2015.org- what comes after the MDGs?

The 2015 deadline to the current Millennium Development Goals has led to a flurry of activities on what the post 2015 development agenda should look like. The question is not whether there will be a set of international development goals after 2015, but rather, what the proposed framework will consist of. In effect, should the MDGs be retained in their current configuration with an extended deadline? Reformulated? Or replaced by an alternative framework? Underlying all these is the question of which option is likely to have the greatest impact on poverty eradication in Africa.

At the global level, activities have been initiated led by a UN Task Team coordinated by DESA and UNDP resulting in the report Realizing the Future We Want For All, which whilst reaffirming the Millennium Declaration of 2000, proposes a set of global objectives based on the three concepts of human rights, social development and environmental sustainability. This will constitute one of the base documents to be discussed at a Special Session of the General Assembly on the post 2015 development agenda in September 2013. This same group has also prepared guidelines for consultations at the global, regional and national levels – including thematic issues. These guidelines are open-ended and adaptable to the local context. Furthermore, the Secretary General established a High Level panel on the post 2015 agenda and the appointment of the President of Liberia of Ms. Johnson Sirleaf as co-chair of this panel together with the newly established Assistant Secretary General for post 2015 development planning Ms. HajiaAmina Mohammed provides a unique opportunity to feed the outcomes of the Africa-wide consultations into the report of the High Level Panel.

Read more at Union Africaine

African policymakers met in Hammamet, Tunisia, to put forward Africa’s voice in shaping the post 2015 development agenda.

African Development Bank Vice-President for Operations, Aly Abou-Sabaa said: “This is the time for Africa to set its targets for the post-2015 development agenda […] It is critical that the voice of Africa is heard and accepted”.
Participants emphasised that any post 2015 goals should focus on quality, as opposed to the trying to cumulate up a large number of objectives. There was also a consensus over the need for political support to push for inclusive, greener and fairer growth, with greater accountability in the service sector, and a move to innovation driven economies which could provide decent jobs. The need for better development financing, and assistance with economic transformation was also highlighted.

The meeting was organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the UNDP. It was the final meeting in a series of three consultations on the post 2015 development agenda, following meetings in Kenya (October 2012) and Senegal (December 2012). These consultations have been designed to develop a formal African position on the post-2015 development agenda, to be endorsed by African Ministers and ratified by Heads of State at the African Union Summit in May 2013.

Read more at Post2015.org- what comes after the MDGs?

In the wake of last week's meetings at the UN on the definition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a group of international scientists have published a call in the journal Nature today, arguing for a set of six SDGs that link poverty eradication to protection of Earth's life support. The researchers argue that in the face of increasing pressure on the planet's ability to support life, adherence to out-dated definitions of sustainable development threaten to reverse progress made in developing countries over past decades.

Ending poverty and safeguarding Earth's life support system must be the twin priorities for the Sustainable Development Goals, say the researchers. The team identified six goals that, if met, would contribute to global sustainability while helping to alleviate poverty.

Read more at Science Daily

The process of establishing a post-2015 development agenda must include youth input and participation to reflect the issues that concern them, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Envoy on Youth stressed today in his first press conference since he assumed office.

“We are at a crossroads. With 1,000 days left to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), we are discussing and trying to set the new priorities for the post-2015 development agenda,” said Ahmad Alhendawi, referring to the eight anti-poverty targets with specific objectives on poverty alleviation, education, gender equality, child and maternal health, environmental stability, HIV/AIDS reduction, and a ‘Global Partnership for Development.’

“This is definitely an opportunity where young people can participate in setting the agenda, and then own this agenda by being equal partners in its implementation and evaluation,” he told reporters in New York via satellite from Dakar, Senegal, where he is attending the World Education Forum.

Read more at UN News Centre

This week in Dakar, Senegal, where the Education for All goals were first defined in 2000, education partners are getting together again to discuss the post-2015 agenda. More than 120 education stakeholders from civil society, youth, private sector, foundations, academics, governments and the United Nations will review progress achieved since 2000 and discuss the remaining challenges. They will identify emerging priorities and outline options for ensuring that education remains a priority in the new development framework post 2015.

Read more at Education for All Blog

On March 14th, the UNDP released the 2013 Human Development Report, entitled “The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World”. It examines the radical shifts in global dynamics driven by the rise of the emerging powers, and their implications for human development.

It identifies over 40 countries in the South which have done better than expected in terms of Human Development over the past decades. The report analyses the factors behind their achievement, and the challenges they face now and in the future.

These countries have their own history and chosen trajectory, yet they share similar characteristics and face very similar challenges at a time of increasing interconnection and interdependence.

The Report encourages a better representation of the South in global governance institutions, and points to new ways of financing essential public goods in the South.

Read more at Post2015.org- what comes after the MDGs?

The final meeting of the Post-2015 Thematic Consultation on Governance took place from 28 February-1 March 2013, at the Pan-African Parliament in Midrand, South Africa. The consultation aimed to build consensus and recommend how to integrate global, regional, national and sub-national governance and accountability with the intergovernmental process on the UN’s post-2015 development agenda.

The global thematic consultation on governance in the post-2015 development agenda has been co-led by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in partnership with the Government of Germany.

During the final, high-level meeting of the consultation, which was attended by 250 participants and broadcast live on the web, plenary, panel and roundtable discussions sought to identify key areas and themes of governance, and discussed positioning governance and accountability in the post-2015 development agenda.

Read more at the International Institute for Sustainable Development

On 25 March, IIASA, UKP4, INCASA and UNORCID will co host a High-Level Panel academia stakeholders consultative event on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.  IIASA Deputy Director Nebojsa Nakicenovic, Ecosystem Services and Management Program Leader Michael Obersteiner, and World Population Program Project Leader Samir KC will all make presentations on identifying and addressing future challenges.

With the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) coming to an end in 2015, the world currently faces the twofold challenge of designing a new framework for development that both incorporates the successes of the MDGs while at the same time aiming at tackling their shortcomings. In the meantime, the nature and dynamics of poverty have been changing. Development took place within a context of growing inequality both within and between countries.

The majority of poor people now live in middle-income countries and most of them in cities as urbanization is proceeding at an accelerated pace. Challenges to past development achievements and future opportunities include global environmental change, economic crises, conflict and instability.

Read more at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

The current UN under-secretary general for Economic and Social affairs [Wu Hongbo] has revealed the UN is working on a new set of development plans once the current window for the Millenium Development Goals is reached in 2015.

During his trip to Hong Kong, Wu Hongbo said, out of the eight UN millennium development goals, some of them will definitely be accomplished by 2015. China has made immense contribution to it.

"In fact, China was setting a good example by eradicating the extreme poverty in millions. Without these efforts, United Nations cannot meet its target in slashing the total number of people living in extreme poverty by half."

Read more at CRI English

The MDGs have been a powerful tool in influencing the policy agenda with a strong human development focus. During the next 1000 days until the MDGs deadline, we will focus on helping countries to accelerate MDGs progress. In order to help countries identify bottlenecks and accelerate results, UNDP introduced the MDG Acceleration Framework (MAF) in 2010. The MAF has been applied in 46 countries with considerable success.

As we approach the MDGs deadline, the UN embarks on the most comprehensive global consultation ever undertaken. The post-2015 process is a truly global conversation, involving and engaging both developed and developing countries, civil society, youth, the private sector, parliamentarians, the poor and the marginalized.

Read more at UNDP

Dr. Precious Gbeneol, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals has advocated that global post 2015 development Agenda can only have the necessary impact on the development of developing nations if it has at its core eradication of poverty with focus of enablers of economic development and job creation.
The SSAP-MDGS who spoke at the informal dialogue titled: “Turning Commitment to Realities- Perspectives on The Post 2015 Development Agenda” during the 57th Commission on the status of women at the United Nations headquarters in New York last week. She therefore listed issues that must be addressed in the post 2015 development framework to include access to sustainable energy, infrastructure, population demographics and governance.

She noted that the changing population demographics imply that the greatest challenge facing developing countries at the moment is providing   economic opportunities for young, educated segment of population of their population and ways to do this must be included in the framework of the new development agenda.

Read more at Spy Ghana

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have achieved much for children all over the world. By helping to channel political commitment and investments, they have contributed to reducing child mortality and increasing educational enrolment. But with the MDGs due to expire in 2015, people are increasingly talking about what should happen next. However, few of them are talking about Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE). And they should be.

The reasons for investing in ECDE programmes are numerous and interrelated. A child's ability to think, form relationships and live up to his or her full potential is directly related to the synergistic effect of good health, good nutrition and appropriate stimulation and interaction with others. A large body of research has proven the importance of early brain development and the need for good health and nutrition.

Research has proven that children who participate in well-conceived ECDE programmes tend to be more successful in school, are more competent socially and emotionally, and show higher verbal and intellectual development during early childhood than children who are not enrolled in high quality programmes.

Read more at allAfrica

In 2000, 164 governments met in Dakar, Senegal and pledged to achieve the six "Education for All" goals by 2015 committing to provide quality basic education for all children, youth and adults. This week, education experts from all over the world meet again in Dakar to discuss the best way to ensure education, training and learning is reflected in the post-2015 agenda.

Hosted by the Government of Senegal with support from the governments of Canada, Germany and the Hewlett Foundation, the meeting was led by United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Education and Scientific Organization (UNESCO).

The last two decades have seen remarkable gains in education. Much of it is due to global commitments to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education for All targets. The number of children of primary age out of school has plummeted from 115 million in 2000 to 61 million in 2010. More than 50 million more children are in education.

Read more at Huff Post

A roundtable meeting to discuss development issues in the Pacific, particularly after the conclusion of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) programme in 2015, was held last month in the Timor-Leste capital of Dili.

Jointly hosted by the Government of Timor-Leste and the Port Vila, Vanuatu-based Pacific Institute of Public Policy, the conference aimed to set an agenda for post-2015 development initiatives.
Like most ‘global’ initiatives that are conceived in the hallowed, comfortable offices of multi disciplinary experts and academics, no matter how much ‘field input’ is solicited, collated and number crunched, the final strategy that comes out can be a little else than a one size fits all solution. In hindsight, most development observers and workers, especially in the diverse Pacific islands region, would agree that much more particularisation needed to be done, taking on board the concerns of individual countries.

Read more at Island Business

The President of the General Assembly on Thursday called for the participation of all nations in crafting a sustainable development agenda after 2015, the deadline for fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Vuk Jeremić spoke at the first meeting of the Open Working Group of the General Assembly on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS).

He said the process of formulating the SDGs will be a complicated one, requiring great diplomatic skill.
Mr. Jeremić stressed that fulfilling the goals of eradicating extreme poverty should be the starting point and also called for addressing other issues, such as food insecurity, the environment and climate change.

"I personally believe that never before have we had to face such a complex and interdependent set of existential challenges. In my view, defining the post-2015 development agenda is about crafting a new global partnership in which no nation is left behind, and no country opts out. If ever a true, aspirational consensus has been needed in the United Nations, it is now. We must come together in common cause, with a single purpose: to make a universal transition to sustainability in a way that equitably addresses the needs of humanity for the 21st century."(34")

Read more at United Nations Radio

The Global Consultation on Education will take place from 18 to 19 March in Dakar, Senegal. Co-organized by UNESCO and UNICEF, it aims to:

•    review progress in education since 2000,
•    identify emerging priorities and cross-cutting issues,
•    outline options for ensuring that education is effectively addressed in the Post-2015 development agenda.
The meeting will bring together representatives of Ministries of Education around the world, as well as education experts UN agencies, civil society and youth organizations and the private sector. UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Education, Mr Qian Tang will attend the Consultation.  

It is organized with the support of the Governments of Senegal, Canada and Germany.

Read more at UNESCO Office in Dakar

Minister of State Dr Maitha Al Shamsi led the UAE delegation to the 2-day Global Leadership Meeting on Population Dynamics and the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda, which concluded in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Wednesday.

The meeting reviewed population dynamics and sustainable development that improves the lives and livelihoods of both present and future generations.

It brought together leaders and experts from all geographic regions, representing national and local governments, international and inter-governmental organisations, academia, civil society, and the private sector to provide a clear and common vision on how population dynamics should be integrated in the post-2015 development agenda.

Read more at The Gulf Today